From the Vault: Bathysphere, Part 2

Otis Barton and William Beebe stand beside their invention the bathysphere, which made the record descent of 1,425 feet off of Nonsuch Island in Bermuda. Getty Images

In 1930, American naturalist William Beebe began his descent in a spherical, unpowered submarine known as a Bathysphere -- and in doing so visited a world previously unseen by human beings. In this two-part Stuff to Blow Your Mind exploration, Robert Lamb and Joe McCormick discuss humanity’s prior understanding of the deep ocean and Beebe’s astounding reports from the world a half mile down. (Originally published March 29, 2018)